WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials offered a reality check Tuesday about the scary new virus from China: They're expanding screenings of international travelers and taking other precautions but for now, they insist the risk to Americans is very low. “At this point Americans should not worry for their own safety,”...
Mongolia Closes Border, China Extends Holiday to Fight Virus
BEIJING — China on Monday expanded its sweeping efforts to contain a deadly virus, extending the Lunar New Year holiday to keep the public at home and avoid spreading infection as the death toll rose to 81. Mongolia closed its vast border with China, and Hong Kong and Malaysia announced...
Las Vegas to California Traffic Backup Tops 20 Miles
LAS VEGAS — Holiday travelers returning to California from the Las Vegas area caused a severe backup lasting for more than 20 miles. The westbound lanes of Interstate 15 moved at a trickle Sunday as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend wrapped up. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada says the...
US Travelers Brace for Snowy Thanksgiving, ‘Bomb Cyclone’
MINNEAPOLIS — A storm packing heavy, blinding snow and fierce winds that wreaked havoc as it whipped through Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska marched into the upper Midwest on Wednesday as anxious Thanksgiving travelers buckled up and barreled headlong into a busy, if not perilous, holiday week. The wintry storm that left at...
Phone, Laptop Searches at U.S. Airports Rising Rapidly, Suit Says
WASHINGTON — U.S. government searches of travelers' cellphones and laptops at airports and border crossings nearly quadrupled since 2015 and are being conducted for reasons beyond customs and immigration enforcement, according to papers filed Tuesday in a federal lawsuit that claims going through electronic devices without a warrant is unconstitutional....
California’s War on Plastic Pollution Targets Tiny Hotel Toiletries
Sarah Enemark of Contra Costa County says she doesn’t travel often, but when she does, she typically forgets to bring her own toiletries. So on a recent weekend, chatting outside the bustling lobby of the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento, she sang the praises of those tiny hotel room amenities that...